Eastern Blockbusters

That’s right — it’s two performances of an all-Russian program at the Hollywood Bowl, featuring the electrifying Nicolai Lugansky at the keyboard, barreling his way through that most vigorously passionate of Romantic tours de force, the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3. Back some 50 years ago, 23-year-old Van Cliburn won the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow, and in American minds the whole damn Cold War, with his glorious interpretation of that demanding work. Today, the multi-award-winning Lugansky — who has been praised for his “sumptuous” and “spellbindingly poetic” renderings of Rachmaninoff’s compositions — is considered the current heir to the “Great Russian” pianistic tradition; in fact, his musical countrymen simply refer to him as “the next one.” Kiril Petrenko conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program that also includes Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1 and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. Hollywood Bowl; Tues. & Thurs., Aug. 28 & 30, 8 p.m.; $1-$93. (323) 850-2000, www.hollywoodbowl.com.